pre-

• prae-, præ- (dated or archaic)
• p͛- (siglum, obsolete)

From Middle English pre-, borrowed from Latin prae-, from the preposition prae (“before”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹɛ/, /pɹiː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹɛ/, /pɹi/, /pɹɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

pre-

2. Before; physically in front of.
   2. (anatomy) Synonym of anterior.
4. Before; earlier in time; beforehand.

• This prefix is usually prefixed to words without using a hyphen (for example, prefix, predate). A hyphen is used in the following cases:
  • Where excluding a hyphen would be likely to lead to a mispronunciation of the word because "pre" appears not to be a complete syllable (for example, "pre-yaw course", which could be read as "prey aw course" if unhyphenated).
  • Always in British English before the letter e (for example, pre-existing)
  • Often in British English before other vowels (for example, pre-operative);
  • Always in all varieties of English before a character other than a letter (for example, pre-1960) or a capital letter (for example, pre-WWII, pre-Reformation).

• (anterior): ante-, fore-
• (beforehand): ante-, fore-

• (antonym(s) of “anterior”): post-
• (antonym(s) of “beforehand”): after-, post-

• fore
• pre

• “pre-”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “pre-”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “pre-”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN. -- includes many derived terms

• EPR, ERP, PER, Per., RPE, Rep, Rep., per, per-, per., rep

From Latin prae- (“before”).

pre-

1. before; used to form words meaning "in front of" or "before"
2. before; used to form words meaning superiority or excellence

• “pre-”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “pre-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “pre-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “pre-” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Latin prae-.

pre-

1. pre-

< Latin prae-

• IPA^(key): /ˈpre-/, [ˈpre̞-]

pre-

1. (in loanwords) pre-

From Latin prae- (“before”).

pre-

1. pre-

From

.

• “pre-”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Borrowed from English pre-, French pré-, Italian pre-, Spanish pre-, Russian пред- (pred-), пре- (pre-).

pre-

1. pre-

From Latin prae- (“before”).

pre-

1. pre-

• per

prē-

1. (Medieval Latin) alternative form of prae-

From Latin prae.

pre-

1. pre-

• “pre-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Latin prae.

pre-

1. pre-

• “pre-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /prɛ/
• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: pre-

pre-

1. pre-

• pre- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

pre-

1. alternative form of pré-

• “pre-”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• pri-

• IPA^(key): /pre/

Inherited from Latin per-, with a few cases influenced by prae.

pre-

1. used with verbs to indicate repetition or insistence

Examples: presăra, prelinge. Compare also prevedea, priveghea

Borrowed from French pre-, Latin prae-.

1. pre-

• ante-

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *per-.

pre- (Cyrillic spelling пре-)

1. Prefix prepended to adjectives and adverbs to denote excess of a feature; too, excessively, over-

   dug / predug ― long / overlong

2. Prefix prepended to verbs to indicate an action being done excessively, again or differently; re-, over-

   trpati / pretrpati ― to stuff / to overstuff

3. Prefix prepended to verbs to indicate change in form, especially through partition

   prepoloviti ― split up

4. Prefix prepended to imperfective verbs to make them perfective; to indicate that the action has been carried out

   Spavat ću u hotelu. Prespavao sam u hotelu. ― I will sleep in a hotel. I slept (over) in a hotel.

The suffix matches the usage of all mentioned prefixes in English for all adjectives and majority of verbs. When "pre-" may cause confusion or cannot be prefixed to a verb in order to indicate repetition, opet or ponovo ("again" / "anew") followed by the verb construction is used instead, e.g. "redo" would be "ponovno uraditi" ("do again") rather than preraditi ("rework").

• IPA^(key): /pre/, [pre]

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *per-. Cognate with Czech pře-.

pre-

1. prefix used to form verbs
   1. across, over (denoting movement from one side to another, or over a barrier)

      ‎pre- + ‎ísť → ‎prejsť (“to go across/cross”)

      ‎pre- + ‎plávať → ‎preplávať (“to swim across”)

      ‎pre- + ‎streliť → ‎prestreliť (“to shoot over/past”)

   2. over- (denoting excess or a high degree of action)

      ‎pre- + ‎soliť → ‎presoliť (“to oversalt”)

      ‎pre- + ‎plniť → ‎preplniť (“to overfill”)

      ‎pre- + ‎ceniť → ‎preceniť (“to overvalue”)

   3. re- (denoting change, transformation, or repeating an action)

      ‎pre- + ‎stavať → ‎prestavať (“to reconstruct”)

      ‎pre- + ‎farbiť → ‎prefarbiť (“to redye/recolor”)

      ‎pre- + ‎robiť → ‎prerobiť (“to remake”)

   4. denoting division or interruption

      ‎pre- + ‎trhnúť → ‎pretrhnúť (“to tear apart”)

      ‎pre- + ‎píliť → ‎prepíliť (“to saw through/in two”)

      ‎pre- + ‎strihnúť → ‎prestrihnúť (“to snip/cut in two”)

      ‎pre- + ‎rušiť → ‎prerušiť (“to interrupt”)

   5. over-, out- (denoting superiority or overcoming)

      ‎pre- + ‎môcť → ‎premôcť (“to overpower”)

      ‎pre- + ‎konať → ‎prekonať (“to overcome”)

      ‎pre- + ‎rásť → ‎prerásť (“to outgrow”)

2. prefix used to form adjectives and adverbs
   1. very, extremely (intensifier denoting a high degree of a quality)

      ‎pre- + ‎krásny → ‎prekrásny (“exquisite/very beautiful”)

      ‎pre- + ‎veľký → ‎preveľký (“huge/very large”)

      ‎pre- + ‎často → ‎prečasto (“very often”)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pro-. Cognate with Czech pro-.

pre-

1. prefix used to form verbs
   1. through (denoting movement through an object or penetrating it)

      ‎pre- + ‎pichnúť → ‎prepichnúť (“to pierce through”)

      ‎pre- + ‎hľadať → ‎prehľadať (“to search thoroughly”)

      ‎pre- + ‎moknúť → ‎premoknúť (“to get soaked through”)

   2. denoting the filling of a time period or space

      ‎pre- + ‎spať → ‎prespať (“to sleep through/spend time sleeping”)

      ‎pre- + ‎plakať → ‎preplakať (“to spend a time crying”)

      ‎pre- + ‎cestovať → ‎precestovať (“to travel through/around the world”)

   3. denoting loss, waste, or squandering through an action

      ‎pre- + ‎piť → ‎prepiť (“to spend money on drink”)

      ‎pre- + ‎hrať → ‎prehrať (“to lose a game”)

      ‎pre- + ‎mrhať → ‎premrhať (“to squander/waste”)

   4. denoting perfectivity or completion of a process

      ‎pre- + ‎čítať → ‎prečítať (“to read through/finish reading”)

      ‎pre- + ‎študovať → ‎preštudovať (“to study through/examine”)

2. prefix found in deverbative nouns from verbs with the prefix pre-

   prehrať → prehra (“a loss/defeat”)

   prenajať → prenájom (“a lease/rental”)

Borrowed from Latin prae-. Cognate with Czech pre-.

pre-

1. Prefix found in nouns of Latin origin
   1. pre- (denoting spatial or temporal precedence)

      ‎pre- + ‎história → ‎prehistória (“prehistory”)

      ‎pre- + ‎pozícia → ‎prepozícia (“preposition”)

      ‎pre- + ‎-fix → ‎prefix (“prefix”)

   2. over-, pre- (denoting a superior position or quality, found in nouns like prezident or precedencia)

• Peciar, Štefan, editor (1959–1968), “pre-”, in Slovník slovenského jazyka [Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volumes 1–6 (A – Ž; Doplnky, Dodatky), Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo SAV, →OCLC

From Proto-Slavic *per-.

• IPA^(key): /prɛ-/

pre-

1. Forms perfective verbs with the following meanings:
   1. (no change in meaning)

      ‎pre- + ‎zráčiti (“to ventilate”) → ‎prezráčiti (“to ventilate”)

   2. through, across

      ‎pre- + ‎grísti (“to bite”) → ‎pregrísti (“to bite through”)

   3. re-, again

      ‎pre- + ‎bȃrvati (“to paint”) → ‎prebȃrvati (“to repaint”)

   4. over-, too much

      ‎pre- + ‎plačáti (“to pay”) → ‎preplačáti (“to overpay”)

   5. for a certain time

      ‎pre- + ‎sedẹ́ti (“to sit”) → ‎presedẹ́ti (“to sit for a certain time”)

Borrowed from Latin prae- (“before”), from the Latin preposition prae.

pre-

1. pre-

   Antonyms: post-, pos-

• “pre-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025